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Rating: 
Summary: Best of it's Genre - And Totally Kick - Ass.
Review: Nobody ever heard of this in the U.S. because the work originated in France and the English translation was done by 2000AD, a British outfit without little distribution in the U.S.All I can say is that it's a shame, because this book is deeper and has more interesting plot-twists and more action and fun than anything like it I've ever seen. It's based in Ireland during the mythical history of the Celts, maybe 4000 years ago, but really imaginary, and it is the story around Slaine, leader of the tribes and champion of Danu, the earth Godess.. Well, it's almost undescribable. It's got tragedy and intrigue and suspense and a plenty of terrific violence, it's got Simon Bisley, whom I usually dislike because his art is often ridiculously exhaggerated, working at the height of his abilities and with most of his excesses in check. It's got a huge Pagan mythos of competing interests, each G-d clever and devious, and a lot of curious second-fiddle types as well. In short, it's a full epic, right there in the comics - and not just for kids either. This is the real deal - anyone with a taste for fantasy literature will love this if they can find it - but they probably can't. There wasn't a large printing - I suspect that it's a collectors item. It's a shame. If they sell 2 million copies of Iron Man comics every year they should be able to sell 20 million of this.
Rating:
Summary: Best of the current 2000AD offerings
Review: One of the best stories to have come out of long-running British comic 2000 AD is Slaine, the ale-swilling, axe-wielding, trouble-making Celtic hero who wanders the lands of Tir Nan Og having all sorts of adventures. The stories were classics: a rich storyline, great action and some truly outstanding art by Mike McMahon. This book is Part Two (of Two) of the Horned God series and teams up Pat Mills, the original creator of the Slaine series with the awesomely talented Simon Bisley. There were several earlier printings of The Horned God story and to my knowledge all of them are out of print and have become collector items of value. This latest printing splits the tale into two books, the first part of which is ISBN 1840234776. In this story, the wandering Slaine has at last returned to his tribe, the Sessair to lead them as king. To defeat their dreaded foes the Drunes and their sea-devil allies the Fomors, Slaine sets out to unite the individual tribes and bring together all four of the great treasures of Tir Nan Og: The sword of the moon which can cut through any metal, the spear of Lugh which thirsts for blood, the cauldron of blood which never empties of food, and the stone of kingship whose test the High King must pass to be accepted by the tribes. In Part Two of this tale, Slaine has gathered all the treasures but one and sets out to finish the task and confront the age-old enemies of his people, the Drunes. The rich, well-researched story and the humour that was so much a part of the original strips are all retained. Combined with Bisley's incredible full-colour artwork makes this the possibly the best of the 2000 AD offerings currently in print.
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